MAN SENTENCED FOR MURDERING 2 PROSTITUTES

On behalf of Marianne Bertuna of Aidala Bertuna & Kamins posted in Violent Crimes on Thursday September 28, 2017.

On Sept. 12, a New York man was sentenced to a minimum of 50 years in prison after he was convicted on charges associated with the deaths of two prostitutes who were killed on Gilgo Beach in Long Island. The 51-year-old carpenter was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder in July though a Suffolk County assistant district attorney attributed the deaths of 10 others to the accused man.

The carpenter was convicted on charges associated with the 1994 deaths of a 31-year-old East Patchogue woman and a 20-year-old Holbrook woman. Officials said that both women suffered severe head injuries and had been strangled to death. An investigation revealed that both women were also drug addicts and prostitutes. The murders remained unsolved for nearly 20 years before DNA evidence matched the man to the two women. He was sentenced to consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences for the two deaths.

Since 2010, 10 sets of human remains have been found in the Gilgo Beach area. It was noted that four of those sets of remains belonged to women who worked as prostitutes. However, the attorney for the family of one of the deceased individuals said that attributing the death to the convicted man was a stretch.

Those who are accused of committing violent crimes, such as murder, could face severe consequences including life in prison. In some cases, a criminal law attorney could defend those accused of murder after going back over the case and independently investigating the evidence available. Depending on the evidence, the attorney may argue that the accused person was not involved in the murder or that the killing occurred in self-defense.